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Sexy: The travel retail print advertising campaign promoting the Bacardi Mojito cocktail |
INTERNATIONAL. Bacardi Global Travel Retail scooped the 2007 Frontier Awards for the Best Marketing Campaign by a Supplier. But exactly how did the company achieve this accolade?
According to Bacardi’s travel retail team, it was all down to the creation of a global marketing campaign to establish a fast-growing trend – the Mojito Lifestyle. The lifestyle came alive via fun, interactive programming – including the largest mojito sampling ever – designed to reach the end consumer in many ways.
The campaign aimed to communicate the Bacardi Mojito lifestyle and the brand’s personality, and it also showcased the company’s cocktail expertise.
Campaign elements included:
• Partnership with Carnival Cruise Line
• Integration with Universal Pictures’ blockbuster hit “Miami Vice”
• Custom POS materials
• Consumer sampling
• Print and television advertising campaign
• Digital media
• Public relations
The partnerships: Miami Vice and Carnival Cruise Line
Having chosen the “Miami Vice” movie as a campaign partner, Bacardi then selected a cruise line co-operation because Miami is home to the international cruise industry, counting some 13.6 million passengers. It saw the potential to reach consumers while in a happy state of travel.
The partnership centred on Carnival Cruise Lines’ 20 “Fun Ships” – dubbed by Carnival as “The World’s Most Popular Cruise Line”.
The Miami Vice Mojito programme allowed adults aged 21 and older, who purchased a Bacardi Mojito aboard any Fun Ship during the promotion, to enter a sweepstakes to win a trip to Miami Beach, including a tour of venues where the “Miami Vice” movie was filmed. Additionally, adults who purchased a Bacardi Mojito when it was designated Carnival’s Drink of the Day were entered into a drawing for shipboard credit during their voyage.
During the co-promotion, which ran from 1 July to 31 August 2006, some 187,456 passengers embraced the opportunities.
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A specially designed muddler was created as a gwp in selected airports |
Advertising: print and TV
Advertising campaigns ran in travel retail trade publications, onboard the Fun Ships, and were used domestically as well, supporting Bacardi’s strategy of catching the traveller on his journey and then following him into his daily life.
Two print campaigns promoted the Mojito cocktail and evoked the sexiness of Miami. The campaign used within travel retail shows a close-up of a woman’s face. Her dark red lipstick and matching necklace offset her extended pink tongue, on which she balances a mint leaf, one of the main cocktail ingredients. The domestic campaign ran in 18 domestic consumer and trade publications over three months, resulting in 65,590,887 impressions.
For TV, Bacardi commissioned famous music video director Lil’ X to develop “The Muddler” advertising campaign embodying the heat of Miami and the Bacardi Mojito. The spot ran on all Fun Ships during the promotion. Domestically, it ran on 10 networks over the course of two months.
And in keeping with the campaign’s global reach, the website www.bacardimojito.com was specially created for the programme. Launched on 15 June, 2006, it is still active.
Visitors can watch “Miami Vice” movie trailers on the site and learn how to make Bacardi Mojitos via interactive video and podcasts. The site acts as a Bacardi Mojito bar and club locator within the US, and provides other Bacardi cocktail recipes. Guests can submit their favourite Bacardi Mojito recipes and download the Bacardi Mojito ringtone taken from the TV spot. During the promotion, the site received 643,113 hits with a 4.5 minute average visit duration.
POS materials
Two types of POS were specially developed for the programme: Bacardi Mojito alone, and the Bacardi Mojito/Miami Vice partnership. Products such as key chains, coasters, shelf-talkers and napkin holders were distributed onboard Carnival, within duty free shops and domestically. A specially designed muddler was created in 2007 as a gwp in selected airports.
Press releases were issued to both travel retail and domestic publications, resulting in editorial coverage in outlets such as The Moodie Report and The Miami Herald. According to Bacardi’s figures, some US$318,660 PR value was created. Additionally, news of the promotion ran in the ship Dailies.
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Bacardi Mojito at Copenhagen International Airport in May |
Campaign results
During the two-month promotion, an average of 7,000 Bacardi Mojitos were sold fleet-wide per week: that equals 56,000 mojitos, bringing Carnival US$445,200 in increased revenue.
Reflecting Bacardi’s global outlook, in 2007 the programme rolled out a muddler gwp in April 2007. This was in turn incorporated into Europe’s summer 2007 Bacardi Mojito campaign, which included stand-alone sampling stations in Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Munich, Rome and Antalya, which by the end of the summer is expected to reach 100,000 people.
MORE ON THE BACARDI MOJITO CAMPAIGN
Bacardi and Carnival promote the Miami Vice Mojito – 30/07/06
